Boulder, CO, USA - In the newest addition to The Geological Society of America's memoir series, editors Douglas M. Morton and Fred K. Miller of the U.S. Geological Survey have brought together 24 well-illustrated chapters detailing the northern 600 km of the Peninsular Ranges batholith of California. This batholith makes up the southern part of the Cretaceous magmatic arc that extends more than 1500 km from northern California, USA, to the tip of Baja California, Mexico.

While the emphasis of this volume is on the more completely exposed northern 600 km of the Peninsular Ranges batholith, areas covered include the San Diego County area and Baja California, south of the Agua Blanca fault.

Petrology, geochronology, and regional aspects of individual plutons, as well as evolution of part of the overall batholith are discussed throughout the book. A number of chapters deal with geophysical, chemical, and isotopic interpretations of the genesis and evolution of the batholith. The memoir's 425+ figures provide a level of detail that will capture the minds and spark the curiosity not only of workers in this field but also of geoscientists for whom this type of study is not a specialty. The accompanying CD-ROM contains meticulous color maps and a wealth of chemical, isotopic, mineralogic, and physical properties data.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.